


Protective

by AutisticWriter



Series: Different, Not Defective [2]
Category: Ghosts (TV 2019)
Genre: 5 Times, 5+1 Things, Ableism, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - School, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Angst with a Happy Ending, Autism, Autism Spectrum, Autistic Pat (Ghosts TV 2019), Autistic Robin (Ghosts TV 2019), Bad Parenting, Bullying, Child Abuse, Complete, Crying, Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia, Disability, Dyslexia, Dyslexic Alison (TV 2019), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Families of Choice, Fat Shaming, Ficlet Collection, Gen, Homophobia, Injury, Julian Fawcett Has Dysgraphia, Neurodiversity, Parental Alison (Ghosts TV 2019), Protectiveness, Slurs, The Captain is Gay (Ghosts TV 2019), Tumblr Prompt, Violence, dysgraphia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-05-12 13:08:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19229758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutisticWriter/pseuds/AutisticWriter
Summary: Five times Alison defended her students, and the time they defended her.Or the one where Alison realises that she views her students like her own family – and they’re beginning to return those feelings.Written for theGhosts Fanworks monthly challengeson Tumblr. Prompt: family.





	1. Robin

**Author's Note:**

> A collection of ficlets in which people are horrible to/about the students, and Alison stands up for them (plus the time they return the favour).
> 
> Written for the Ghosts Fanworks monthly challenges on Tumblr.
> 
> Trigger warnings for: ableism, bullying, some violence and homophobia, as well as crappy parenting.
> 
> The chapters go as follows:  
> 1\. Robin: At Parents’ Evening, his father says horrible things about him.  
> 2\. Pat: Alison finds Pat being bullied.  
> 3\. Cap: After Cap comes out, he starts getting bullied.  
> 4\. Mary: Mary tells Alison her parents are getting divorced and her dad said she is the reason.  
> 5\. Julian: In the staff room, other teachers say nasty things about Julian’s disability.  
> 6\. Alison: Robin overhears students badmouthing Alison, and gets into a fight.

1 – Robin

Every year, the last week of November brings an important but loathed event in the calendar at Button House Comprehensive: Parents’ Evening. The teachers dislike it due to having to work late and spend time talking to parents who get defensive when they say their child is disobedient or getting in trouble. And the students have it because their parents will probably say embarrassing stuff to their teachers or their teachers will inform their parents they’re doing badly at school. Either way, few people enjoy it.

She may only have been working at this school for three weeks, but Alison has to attend too. As the Special Educational Needs Coordinator, she will have to talk to the parents of the kids who come to her (Still horribly named) Special Education Centre, filling them in on how their children are progressing. And she isn’t looking forward to it either. Something tells her at least one parent will be ableist about their child. At least, that’s what her own parents did when she was at school.

Anyway, Parents’ Evening is tonight, and she won’t get home from work until at least 9pm. But she shouldn’t complain; this is just part of being a teacher.

\---

After school, the school hall gets transformed for Parents’ Evening. Desks line the edges of the hall, chairs facing inwards so Alison can see her fellow teachers when she takes her seat. A sign sits on her desk, telling her name and her position, and Alison shuffles through a stack of paperwork, prepared to talk about the kids she hasn’t known for very long.

The first on her list is Robin’s family, and she wonders what they are like. Robin is such a hyperactive, scruffy kid, but Alison gets the feeling his parents are nothing like him. and when they arrive (on time, which is something Robin can never manage), Alison finds she was correct.

Robin’s mum and dad wear smart clothes, and carry themselves with an air of classiness that would rival Fanny’s. Some parents have brought their kids with him, but Robin’s parents haven’t, which is probably a good thing considering how Robin overloads in crowded places after too long. And the more she looks at them, Alison realises that Robin’s mum seems far more timid than her husband.

“Hi,” Alison says, standing up and holding out her hand.

“Hello there,” Robin’s dad says, smiling. “You must be Mrs Cooper.”

“Robin has told us a lot about you,” Robin’s mum says.

The three of them sit down, Alison shuffling for Robin’s paperwork. “Does he? Good things, I hope,” she says, chuckling.

“Yes, he raves about you,” his mum says. “He told us you let him flap when he needs to and he’s actually enjoying his sessions in the SEC since you became the new SENCO.”

Alison smiles, something fluttering in her chest. She knows Robin likes her (that kid has no filter and tells everyone exactly what he thinks of them, often accidentally being rude in the process), but for him to say such a lovely thing… she sort of wants to cry, but in a happy way. “Oh, well… that’s wonderful.”

Robin’s dad scoffs, and Alison glances at him. He smiles, but something seems off about the expression. “Yes, but I bet he’s still being as massive a nuisance in your classes as he is at home.”

She stares at him. “Excuse me?”

“I know Robin is a kind boy, but he has no volume control or filter. Be honest, Mrs Cooper. He must drive you insane as well.” Robin’s dad leans forwards in his seat, giving Alison a very weird smile.

She recognises that smile. It’s the sort of smile a sexist man will shoot at Mike after being bigoted towards Alison, as though expecting him to join in with his sexism. Yeah, it’s just like that. Robin’s dad wants her to laugh along with him, bitching about things his son can’t help behind his back.

“Come now, darling, there’s no need to talk like that,” Robin’s mum says, putting her hand on his arm.

“But I’m just telling the truth, dear. Look, Mrs Cooper, I just want you to be truthful with me. Is Robin a nightmare to have around?”

“No,” Alison says.

He flinches. “What?”

She clenches her toes inside her shoes, wanting to scream or slap him but forcing a smile (that must look rather creepy) onto her face. “I said ‘no’. Robin is a lovely student, and always tries his best. He may be hyper and loud sometimes and accidentally upset people by using the wrong words, but he finds it hard to speak, and speaking drains him of the energy he uses to act ‘normal’.” Alison leans forwards. “I seriously think your son would be less boisterous if you let him use sign language.”

“What? Robin doesn’t know sign language!”

“Oh, he does. He and his friend Mary have been learning it for years.”

“How do you know that?” he says.

“Because I listen to Robin,” Alison says. “Your son is autistic. You can never expect him to act like you. His brain works differently. If allowed to sign a lot of the time and given another activity to vent his energy – like video games or football or something – Robin would be far less of a ‘nightmare’. But do you actually want to help your son, or do you want him to be ‘normal’.”

Alison stops talking, struggling to believe she just said all of that. But the frustration of seeing a man badmouth his own kid just before being himself… she had to say something.

“I will not be talked down to by you,” Robin’s dad says, glaring at her. And he storms off, leaving the hall.

Robin’s mum looks at Alison, smiling bashfully. “Please, I’m so sorry for my husband’s behaviour. He’s been like this ever since Robin’s diagnosis.”

_But Robin was diagnosed when he was four_ , Alison thinks, remembering her records. _So his dad has been complaining about Robin for… seven years?_

“You don’t need to apologise. You didn’t do anything. Please, though, can you take my words to heart?” Alison says. “Try learning some signs – Robin knows loads – or get him enrolled in a club or something. And, please, never let Robin hear his father say such horrible things about him.”

Tears shining in her eyes, Robin’s mum nods. “Of course.”

Alison takes a deep breath, smiling. “Okay. Now, let’s actually talk about Robin…”


	2. Pat

2 – Pat

Nobody ever acknowledges it, but all schools have a horrific bullying problem. And if a kid is marginalised in some way (like they are disabled or part of an ethnic minority), the bullies become even more likely to get them, and even more vicious. Both Alison and Mike can attest to how awful their school days were, all thanks to bullies.

And all schools say they don’t approve, and do shit like Anti-Bullying Week to try and prove their school is different, but they still do nothing when kids are being abused just for who they are. And, unfortunately, Button House Comprehensive is just the same.

When she first met him, Alison feared Pat was being bullied. He came into her room at lunchtime looking like he had been crying, and spoke like some other boys had upset him, but denyed bullying. But she didn’t believe him. She’s sure Pat is being bullied. But how can she help him when he won’t say a thing?

\---

One lunchtime, Alison leaves the staff room and heads to the canteen, fancying some chips. But as she wanders the deserted halls (the students aren’t allowed to stay in their classrooms at break times, unless it is raining, so she rarely bumps into any in the corridors), she hears a loud voice.

“Come here, you fat fuck!”

The voice is biting and cruel, and Alison flinches. And, without hesitating, she follows after the voice.

She turns a corner and… stares. She finds Pat stood with his back pressed to the wall, eyes brimming with tears. Three boys crowd around him, all towering over him, and they spit cruel words at him. Alison walks towards them, but none of them notice her.

“You’re such a fat piece of shit, Pat. No wonder everyone hates you.”

Pat stares at them all, and gulps.

“Shit, are you gonna cry, you fucking wimp!” one boy yells, and Pat flinches.

“Oh no, don’t hurt his ears!” another says, laughing. “Don’t you know, Pat is retarded?”

“All of you, stop that!” Alison shouts, racing over.

The boys spin around, eyes widening. Alison catches a glimpse of their ties, and realises they’re in year eleven. These boys are bullying a boy two years older than them?

“Oh shit!” one of them says.

“Don’t you dare run away!” Alison says, but they don’t listen. Why would they?

The three bullies laugh and hurtle down the corridor, leaving Alison alone with Pat. She looks at him, wanting to sob when she sees the tears in his eyes and the way he shakes, utterly terrified.

“Pat?” she says, voice soft.

Pat sniffs, wiping his eyes. “Oh, Mrs Cooper. Uh… thank you.” He smiles, but it’s the most forced thing Alison has ever seen; why must this boy always try to put others first? “Sorry you had to see that.”

“What are you talking about?” Alison says, rummaging through her handbag for a tissue. “Pat, you’re the victim. Don’t ever apologise for people abusing you.”

“Ab-abusing?” he says. “No, we’re just… not good friends.”

“Pat, you’re being bullied. Bullying is abuse. They may be younger than you, but those boys are abusers. So don’t apologise for being hurt.”

He sniffs, his eyes filling with tears again. They spill over, and he takes a tissue when Alison holds it out to him. “They just… don’t like me very much.”

“Yeah, I can see that. Did they hurt you?”

“No. Just… said things.”

Yes, fat shaming, ableist things, she thinks.

“Pat… you need to report this.”

“No!” he cries, before ducking his head. “Sorry. It’s just… if I report them, it’ll only get worse. Please, Miss…” His voice cracks, and Pat’s face crumples. “Please…”

Pat breaks down sobbing, covering his face with his hands. He sniffles as he cries, and Alison’s heart shatters. To see Pat, a seventeen year old sixth former, reduced to tears out of the fear reporting his bullies will make his situation worse… it’s so like her own school life that she has to fight back tears.

“Trust me, Pat, I know what you mean.”

“Y-You do?” he whispers.

“Yeah. I was bullied throughout my time at school. And I found reporting it to the teachers meant the kids got a single detention, and then bullied me worse the next day. But… but it won’t be like that for you anymore.”

Pat peaks out behind his hands, the lenses of his classes splattered with tears. “But how?”

“Because you’ve got me on your side,” Alison says, forcing a smile.”I’m the SENCO, Pat. I’ve got pretty high authority at this school. And ableism is supposed to be taken very seriously, despite schools being useless at dealing with it. So with me on your side, I can get those boys excluded for a week, and if it happens again… I’ll have enough evidence to make a case for expelling them. I won’t let them win, Pat. You deserve so much better than this. I promise I’ll stop this happening.”

Pat stares at her, eyes wide. “Mrs Cooper… do you really mean that?”

She hands him another tissue. “Of course I do. Now, come with me. I need to get the names of those boys. Do you remember their faces?”

He nods, blowing his nose. “Oh, yeah, I do. Miss… thank you so much.”

“It’s nothing,” Alison says. “I just want all my students to be happy and safe.”


	3. Mary

3 - Mary

Mary is a very quiet student, but Alison always notices her presence. Like Robin, Mary spends at least three of her six daily lessons in Alison’s room (which she refuses to call the Special Education Centre unless talking to other teachers), due to needing a lot of help from an LSA and this school deciding they shouldn’t try to integrate the disabled kids with the other kids, leading to bullying and other crap, but what does Alison know?

Anyway, Mary doesn’t talk very much, mainly because she finds it so difficult to both find the right words and to make her mouth form them, but you don’t need to speak to be noticed. She and Robin are always giggling at Fanny’s name or using sign language together when their LSAs aren’t looking, so Alison never forgets she is there.

But it takes over a month of working at Button House Comp to see Mary with anything other than a smile or an expression of confusion on her face.

\---

As the bell rings for the end of Period 1, Robin races out of the room chanting, “PE!”

“Three guesses what lesson he has next,” Julian says to Cap as the pair finish working on their English and pack up their stuff.

Alison smiles, amazed at Robin’s endless energy and choosing to ignore the way Robin’s LSA shakes her head in exasperation. He may have been too loud, but he hasn’t doing anything wrong; she really can’t stand the teaching assistants who work with her students.

She watches Julian and Cap exit the room, followed by the LSAs who had been working with them and Robin, leaving the room empty. According to her timetable, Mary should be the only student in here for Period 2, working with Miss Jenkins.

Sure enough, Mary appears a couple of minutes later, and Alison stares at her. Mary walks with her head bowed, hands trembling as she fidgets with the buttons on her blazer. She walks slowly like she’s daydreaming, but the nervous energy radiating from her suggests not. Still, she’s never seen Mary act like this before, so Alison wanders over.

Taking advantage of the fact Miss Jenkins is always late and so will give her a couple of minutes alone with Mary to find out what is wrong before her LSA barges in and demands Mary get to work, Alison says, “Are you okay, Mary?”

Mary looks up at Alison, showing blotchy cheeks and red, puffy eyes. “Oh… yes… Miss.”

It seems to take her even longer than usual to find her words, and Alison just can’t stop staring at the clear signs her student has been crying.

“You’ve been crying, Mary. What’s upset you?” Alison gives her most reassuring smile, perching herself on the edge of a desk so they are pretty much the same height. “You can tell me. I can’t promise I won’t have to tell someone, but you should get it off of your chest.”

Mary breaks eye contact, and starts nibbling on her bottom lip. “I… uh… my, my parents… they… they’re getting a d-divorce.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” she says, knowing divorces are rough on the kids.

“My dad s-said… my fault,” Mary mumbles, her eyes filling with tears. “It’s my fault.”

And to Alison’s horror, Mary breaks down sobbing. She sniffles and scrubs at her eyes with the sleeves of her blazer, tears leaking down her cheeks.

“Oh, Mary, here, have a tissue,” Alison says, running for the box of tissues she keeps on top of the bookcase. As Mary takes a tissue, she says, “Your dad said the divorce is your fault?”

Mary nods. “Y-Yeah. said I, I’m ‘nnoying and hard w-work… and I… put strain on their m-marriage and… it’s my fault.”

Alison wants to scream. She wants to hug Mary. She wants to go to Mary’s house and punch her father across the face. Unfortunately, she can’t do any of these things.

As she fights to stay calm and hands her student another tissue, Alison says, “Mary, I’m so sorry you had to hear that. But your dad is lying. This divorce isn’t your fault. It’s never the kid’s fault. Your parents’ marriage fell apart because they’re not right for each other, not because of you.”

“R-Really?” Mary says, sniffing.

“Really. What your dad said to you is awful. To blame your kid for your relationship breaking up… that’s so cruel I don’t even know what to say. But it’s not true. And I don’t want you thinking your disability makes you ‘hard work’. yes, you sometimes need a bit more help than other kids your age, but if your parents didn’t sign up for your disability, they never should’ve been parents.”

“What d’you mean?”

“Well, when you choose to have a kid, you should be open to the fact your kid might be disabled or gay or trans or in any way different to what you expected. If you can’t cope with a kid who is different, you shouldn’t become a parent.”

Mary stares at her. “So… it’s not… my fault?”

“Not at all, Mary. It’s their fault. Never feel bad for being who you are. And never listen to your dad, or your mum, if they try to push the blame for this divorce onto you, okay?”

She sniffs. “Okay. Th-thanks.”

“No problem,” Alison says. “Are you feeling any better now?”

Mary wipes her face, and Alison notices that no new tears fall. She’s covered in tears and snot, but Mary manages a weak smile as she cleans herself up. “A, a bit.”

Alison smiles, glad she could help – but still wanting to punch that bastard for putting poor Mary in this position in the first place.


	4. Cap

4 – Cap

Ever since she walked in on Pat being bullied, Alison has been extra vigilant in looking out for signs of bullying. These boys who hurt Pat seem to be leaving him alone, but she can’t help but worry someone else will take their place. Or that some of her other students might get bullied too.

This was the part of working in a school that never occurred to her. Alison went through school as a disabled student, so she knows from personal experience that kids like her get bullied. But she never thought about her own students being abused, and it hurts like a punch to the stomach.

However, in all her attempts to stop the ableist bullying, Alison forgets that bullying can happen for any reason – like homophobia.

\---

The kids at Button House Comp are allowed to wear two or three badges on their blazers, provided they’re not huge or offensive. It’s quite common to see students wearing badges of characters from their favourite cartoons or in support of charities, so it doesn’t surprise her when Cap enters the room one day with a badge on his lapel.

When she looks at him, however, the surprise does register. Because Cap’s badge is of a rainbow, somewhat more colourful than she would have expected from him.

“Ooh, nice badge!” Robin says, running over to Cap.

Cap goes a bit red, smiling bashfully. “Thank you, old chap. It’s a… pride flag.”

“Oh, are you gay?” Mary asks, and Cap goes even redder.

“Yes, I am.”

Alison blinks. Now she recognises the rainbow as a gay pride flag. Wandering over, she smiles and says, “Congratulations on coming out, Cap.”

He smiles, breaking eye contact. “Oh, thank you, Mrs Cooper.”

It shouldn’t be this way in 2019, but coming out is still a very brave thing to do. Homophobia is much more rampant than most people would choose to believe, and schools are the perfect place for homophobic bullying to start up. She wants to warn him that people might be arseholes to him, but… she can’t rain on his parade like that.

Alison just has to hope Cap will be okay.

\---

The sixth form classrooms are all upstairs, so Alison, working on the ground floor, rarely bumps into Pat, Cap and Julian other than the times they visit her room. But with the downstairs photocopier on the blink, she has to venture upstairs one lunchtime in search of the other one – and that’s when she sees it.

Two sixth form boys stand in front of the door to the boys’ toilets, blocking entry. And in front of them… is Cap, hands clenching the strap of his satchel and failing to keep a look of fear off of his face.

“Excuse me,” he says. “May I get past?”

“Why, so you can go and spy on our dicks at the urinals, you fucking poof?” one boy says, spitting his words out.

Alison picks up her pace, wanting to reach the boys before things get ugly. The old-fashioned, very British slur for ‘gay’ reminds her of her time at school, when every boy seemed to love flinging that word at each other. Some things never change.

Cap takes a step backwards, starting to tremble. “Of course not. I just need the loo. Please let me past.”

“No.”

Cap moves to push past the boys, but the moment he puts his hands on their shoulders, a fist drives into his face. He stumbles backwards, clutching at his jaw, and Alison breaks into a run, swearing inside her head and desperate to help poor Cap before he gets the shit kicked out of him.

But before she can get there, Cap runs away, leaving the boys sneering at his back.

When Alison reaches the two bullies, she glares at them. “What the hell was that?!”

They glance at each other, and realise she saw all of that. The ‘oh shit’ expressions that flashes across their faces would be hilarious in another situation, but right now just makes Alison even angrier.

“Well, answer me!” she demands, putting her hands on her hips.

Again, they look at each other, and back to Alison.

“Um…”

“We…”

“We just didn’t want that fairy coming—”

“Enough!” Alison says, holding her hands up in the air. “If you can’t even go one sentence without being homophobic towards the poor boy you just abused… Right, come with me. We’re going to the office.”

She half expects them to run away and swear at her for good measure, but the two boys just stand there, as though admitting defeat.

Although given what they just said, they don’t seem even remotely sorry for what they did to Cap.

\---

After spending half an hour in the office with the two bullies, filing a report of what they did and putting them in for two weeks of detention, Alison remembers the most important part of this whole mess: Cap. She hasn’t seen him since he ran off, and he might need medical attention. But he definitely needs support.

Poor Cap just wanted to be proud of his identity, and these little shits stomped all over him. That must hurt unbearably. She needs to find him.

Alison eventually locates Cap in her room, which, like all lunchtimes, is empty save for Pat and Humphrey. Cap perches on a desk and Pat and Humphrey sit either side of him, Humphrey patting his back and Pat holding the box of tissues and talking to him so softly she can’t hear. A red mark blossoms on Cap’s chin, and his eyes are even redder.

“Oh, here you are, Cap,” she says, and he jumps. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Are you okay?”

Cap shakes his head. “Not really.”

“Cap told us what happened,” says Pat, who appears to be near tears himself. “We’ve been trying our best to help.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it. Look, Cap, I reported the bullies and have given them detention. And if they hurt you again, I’m more than happy to recommend exclusion. But… why did you run away?”

He sighs. “I was… ashamed for you to have seen that.”

“Please, Cap, don’t feel like that,” Alison says. “I’ve seen all this sort of stuff before. I just want to help you. To keep you safe. I just want you to know that… you can talk to me. You don’t have to be embarrassed. Okay?”

Cap looks at her, eyes shining with suppressed tears. Slowly, he nods his head. “Thank you. You’re a wonderful teacher, Mrs Cooper.”

And as his words sink in, Alison finds herself fighting back tears.


	5. Julian

5 – Julian

Julian Fawcett is a bit on an arsehole. Julian himself would probably be proud to call himself that, knowing the sort of person he is. Now, Alison deeply cares for Julian, like all of the students she cares for, but he’s probably the prickliest of the lot.

There are very few people he is friendly with, choosing to be snarky with everyone else. Thankfully for Alison, she is one of the people he likes.

“You’re the only teacher I’ve ever given a crap about,” Julian said to her last week, speaking loud enough to make his LSA glare at him behind his back.

“Oh, uh… thank you?” Alison said, not sure how to respond.

Of course, she appreciates it, but like everything Julian says, did he have to phrase it quite like that?

She knows he hated her guts when they first met, but his opinion softened when he watched Alison encourage Robin to stim and telling off his LSA for trying to force him to do that quiet hands crap. Since then, he’s actually smiled at her a lot.

Sometimes, she thinks he needs to be taken down a peg or too. but at other times, Alison realises that Julian tends to only be nice to people who were nice to him first, hence why he likes her and the other students who work in Alison’s room. so, maybe if he hadn’t spend his childhood being talked down to for being disabled, he wouldn’t be such an arsehole.

Yes, Julian may be a git, but Alison can’t totally blame him. after all, she knows how much it hurts to be treated like a child by teacher after teacher just for having a brain that works differently.

\---

When she first started working in schools, Alison learned that teachers often bitch about their students when in the staff room. and at Button House Comp, that is also the case. When the teachers go there at break times, they are always complaining about their rude and naughty students, and others laugh and it’s all just… a harmless way to vent frustration.

Alison doesn’t go in there a lot, preferring to stay in her room wih Pat and Humphrey, so when she does turn up, the other teachers tend to make an effort to include her. And, yeah, sometimes she does join in, talking about those horrible boys who were bullying Cap and how they need more detentions, and it’s good to get her frustrations off of her chest.

But when other teachers start bitching about the kids for other things, the fun stops.

“Jesus Christ, have you had Julian Fawcett lately?” one teacher says.

“Yeah, and he’s just as much a little shit as he was when he was eleven,” another says, laughing.

“Does he kick up a fuss in the Special Education Centre, Mrs Cooper?”

“Oh,” Alison says, well aware that Julian must be a git in his other classes. “Well, he can be very rude with his LSAs—”

She was about to add on how he only snarks at the LSAs when they infantalise him and Cap, but she gets cut off by another teacher.

“Yeah, I thought so,” he says, shaking his head. “Honestly, I don’t know why he’s even doing A-Level English. He’s going to fail – I mean, he can’t even write properly—”

His words ring in her ears, and Alison wants to scream. “Excuse me?” she says, putting on a faux polite tone but letting the anger seep through.

To her satisfaction, he flinches. “Oh, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just, his grades are so poor and someone like him will never get a good job anyway—”

Alison holds up a hand, frustration tying her guts up into knots. “Shut up.”

“What?” he says. “Who crawled up your arse?”

She sighs, gritting her teeth and hiding a smirk when the other staff scoot away, as though scared she might explode. “Are you serious right now? Are you seriously asking why the _SENCO_ is annoyed that you’re writing off one of her students because of his disability?”

“I’m not writing him off. I’m just speaking the truth.”

“It’s not the truth!” she snaps. “Yeah, things are harder for people like Julian – people like me. But discrimination laws exist and he’s entitled to extra help, and I honestly believe he can achieve the same things as a student without dysgraphia. And try to learn about the disabilities you stamp over next time; Julian can write, he just struggles to form letters with the same speed as his peers. And I know Julian can be an arse sometimes – but has it occurred to you how draining it must be to be treated like crap by every teacher you meet? I don’t blame him for hating teachers if they act like you.”

And as the teacher recoils like she slapped him, Alison stands up and storms out of the room.

\---

The next time Julian comes into the room (accompanied by Cap, as always), Alison watches him closely. In a way, she thinks he acts like she would have done if she had a bigger ego. She’s not saying it’s okay to be an arse, but she understands why Julian is so short with everyone he meets.

But she’s glad he feels comfortable around her. She might be the first teacher he’s ever had who treats him the same as anyone else, and she wants him to remember these times whenever things get difficult.

She wants him to know it’s okay to be himself, and it’s okay to let your guard down.


	6. Alison

+1 – Alison

“You know the new SENCO?”

“What, Mrs Cooper?”

“Yeah. well, she’s a total fucking bitch.”

Robin freezes in place, those words ringing in his ears. He was on his way to the boys’ toilets, but stops when he hears the conversation between two year eleven boys. Boys who just said something horrible about Mrs Cooper.

“What did she do?”

“She gave me two weeks detention, all because I was picking on fat Pat.”

The other boy snorts. “Really?”

“Yeah, she was pissed off. The stupid bitch just doesn’t understand. Freaks like Pat need to be bullied otherwise—”

Robin turns around and walks towards them. They tower over him, but he doesn’t show his fear. “Excuse me?”

The boys look down at him. “What do you want, brat?”

“I was… why’re so being so mean ‘bout Mrs Cooper? She’s nice.” Well, more like the only teacher who has ever treated him with respect, but he can’t find the words to put it that way.

The boys glance at each other, and start laughing.

“Oh, you must be one of the idiots she works with. Don’t you know she doesn’t really like you? Bitches like her never—”

“Shut up!” Robin yells, clenching his hands into fists. She does like him; she lets him be himself and stands up for him and feels more like a parent to him than both of his own ever have. “Don’t say that!”

In one smooth motion, one of the boys grabs Robin by the lapels of his blazer, glaring at him. Even without making eye contact, Robin can see the burning anger on his face. Oh crap.

“What did you say to me, you little shit? How dare you talk to me like that. You better apologise right now!”

Despite his attempts to stay calm, Robin starts to tremble, fear vibrating through his limbs. But he doesn’t give in. Nobody should talk about his favourite teacher like that.

“No! You’re mean! You shut up!”

Before Robin has time to react, a fist collides with his face, sending Robin crashing to the ground. He bangs his head against the floor and, as pain explodes through his skull, he passes out.

\---

Alison trembles, wanting to be sick. She stands out on the campus, watching an ambulance drive away. An ambulance that Robin is inside of.

She doesn’t know the details; all she knows is that a student burst into her room to say Robin had been beaten up and was in the medical room, and Alison hurried to see him. She found him unconscious with one of his friends stood beside him, near tears. Blood leaked from Robin’s nose, an ice pack strapped to the back of his head.

“We don’t know why it happened, but it’s obvious those boys beat him up,” the nurse said once she got off of the phone. “I’ve called an ambulance. His injuries don’t seem life threatening, but he needs a CT scan of his head to check for internal injuries.”

Alison swallowed hard, nausea churning in her guts. Robin didn’t wake up the entire time she stood over him, and she wanted to sob. She knew the boys who hurt Robin had been caught and were currently in the head teacher’s office, and part of her wanted to go and yell at them, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

And when the ambulance came, Alison wanted to be the one to accompany Robin to the hospital, but Robin’s tutor went instead, leaving her standing here in the driveway, watching the ambulance drive.

How could this have happened? How could two year eleven boys beat up poor Robin? Do they even have a reason for hurting him?

With Robin being taken care of, Alison decides now is the time to see the bastards who hurt her student. She walks slowly to the head teacher’s office, and knocks to enter. She finds the two boys stood in front of the head’s desk, getting yelled at.

“—if Robin’s parents see fit, we might even get the police involved!” he shouts, hands braced against the desk. “Do you understand how serious this is? You two assaulted an eleven year old boy. do you even feel ashamed?”

The boys squirm under his fierce glare, and Alison has to fight back a satisfied smirk.

“Oh, Mrs Cooper, what brings you here?” the head says, finally noticing her.

“I just wanted to see the boys who hurt my student,” Alison says, walking over to them. She stares at the boys, wanting to see guilt written across their faces, but finding nothing but awkwardness. And then she recognises one of them as part of the trio who were bullying Pat. “So… what do you have to say for yourselves? And it’s nice to know you learned your lesson.”

The boy glances at her, going red. “He disrespected us. Talked to us like we’re not older than him. Told him to apologise, but he didn’t. So we…”

“You punched him so hard he fell and hit his head,” she says, wanting to scream. “Do you even have a reason why Robin ‘disrespected’ you?”

They both stare at their feet. “Um… I was… complaining about… your detentions. Robin didn’t like me talking about you that way, miss. So, yeah…”

Alison sighs heavily. “Sir, I think we need to suspend them.”

“Agreed.”

And when the boys both complain about this punishment, Alison leaves the room, unable to deal with their shit any longer. She hates bullies.

But as she walks away, those words sink in. Robin got into an argument with these boys because they were talking shit about her? Robin got himself hurt defending Alison from boys far older than him?

She… she had no idea her students care about her so much.

Shaking her head before she can start crying, Alison returns to her room. Pat and Humphrey are still here, but Cap, Julian and Fanny have joined them, something they never do in their lunch breaks.

“Miss, how is he?” Pat asks.

Oh, that’s why. They’re here to talk about Robin. The news of his assault spread around the school in minutes, and Alison knows it will be gossiped about for months.

“The ambulance just took him to hospital. The paramedics said he’s stable, but we won’t know the details until he’s had his scan. I’ve asked Mr Simpson to text me when he gets more news at the hospital.”

Cap sighs, and Pat looks like he might cry.

“Why did they do it, Mrs Cooper?” Fanny asks.

Alison sits on the edge of an empty desk, swallowing. “Um… apparently they were badmouthing me because I put one of them in detention, and Robin stood up for me and… they beat him up.”

Julian jumps to his feet, hands clenched into fists. “Where are they? We need to beat the shit out—”

“Julian, no!” Alison says, standing up. “I appreciate it, but going on a revenge rampage won’t help anyone. Seriously, just leave it.”

She… she doesn’t know how to feel about this. Robin got himself hurt to defend her, Julian is prepared to beat someone up to defend them both, and… Alison wants to cry. she knew she cared about her students deeply, but she had no idea they all feel the same way.

But… she’s glad. Despite all the bad things that have happened, she’s glad they’re all so protective of each other.

She’s glad they all feel like a family.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want me to write you a short fic, drop in a prompt at my [personal prompt meme](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/AutisticWriters_Personal_Prompt_Meme)!


End file.
